Mo Ibrahim Index : Mauritius leads in good governance in Africa

Mauritius takes another top spot in African rankings, leading the way on the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) 2018 Rankings. The IIAG Ranking, on its 12th year, annually compiled by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to assess the quality of governance in African countries. The ranking provides a comprehensive measure of governance by analyzing four major components, Safety and Rule of Law, Participation and Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development. These components are further divided into smaller metrics and each metric is composed of multiple indicators that are easily measured and monitored throughout the year. Over 100 detailed indicators (102 to be exact) are used to rank the governance of African countries. Mauritius is ranked number 1 across all 4 categories of the Mo Ibrahim Index.

The average score in
the category safety and rule of law is 52.6, with a slow deterioration of 2.5
decease between 2008 and 2017. The main metrics in this category are Rule of
Law, Transparency and Accountability, Personal Safety and National Security.
Cote D’Ivoire has the greatest improvement with 15.4 points while Libya has the
largest deterioration of 28.7 points. It seems things are not getting any
better for Libya since the murder of Muammar Gaddafi.

The
Sustainable Economic Opportunity has the lowest average at 44.8% which is 5.2 %
below the half way mark. We hope the respective government ministries are
taking this into consideration and developing ways address this aspect. The
metrics used are public management, business management, infrastructure, and
rural sector. In this category, Morocco has the greatest improvement with 14.1
points and Libya again shows the largest deterioration of 22.6 points.

The Human
Development category has the largest average at 52.8%, indicating a slow
improvement in comparison with the 2008 – 2017 period. The metrics used are
welfare, education and health. Burkina Faso has the greatest improvement with
13.4 points and Libya is again the unfortunate country with the largest
deterioration of 19.0 points.